[aron]

Originally Posted by DistantStar

During this time I've noticed their distaste for other churches. Not in a mean way, but slightly in a condescending way. I remember one of them saying that we should not be broken into denominations, and he implied that those churches that are denominational have somehow lost their way. I found this really hypocritical. I thought, by making an "us vs them" distinction, this society is, in effect, making a denomination.

There's a strange phenomenon in the Local Church, in which the Christian bona fides are prominently waved, while other Christian groups with the same historical lineage are panned as deficient. This way, they hope to attract new recruits by self-consciously asserting their legitimacy, and subsequently isolate their members by delegitimizing every other assembly. And apparently they miss the disconnect, in saying that every other group is "denominated" and wrong, yet their condemnation of "the other" (here being every other Christian) is their ideational bedrock. The Rock on which they stand is not faith in the Lord Jesus Christ but rather the idea that nobody else is qualified to collectively represent the Lord Jesus Christ. Hypocrisy, indeed.

Watchman Nee got saved in his teen years (1920), and wrote a best-seller "The Spiritual Man" a few years later. Once he became well-known, it was realized that this book was merely a translation of a Western book on spirituality.

In 1926, when he was suffering from tuberculosis, Ni began his first major book, The Spiritual Man, which sought to explain spiritual formation in terms of biblical psychology, especially the radical distinction between “soul” (self-consciousness) and “spirit” (God-consciousness). Published in 1928, the three-volume work has been called basically a translation of Penn-Lewis’s Soul and Spirit, published ten years earlier, though Ni did not make that clear. These early efforts laid the theological foundation for his future teaching ministry.

http://www.bdcconline.net/en/stories/n/ni-tuosheng.php

In short, he was a Christian like you or I, whose followers literally raised him to God-like status. This trend was continued with his acolyte Witness Lee.

They have fairly deceptive recruiting practices, as you've noticed. First, they will say that "We are just Christians like everyone else". They'll gladly go on and on about their rich heritage, centered in the Protestant Reformation. (In their narrative, Martin Luther was essentially the initiation of the "recovery", with his doctrine of justification by faith.) Then once the new person thinks, Hey this is a great Christian group, and begins to emotionally connect with them (enhanced by shouting, loud singing, repetitive declarations, and 'pray-reading') they'll begin the isolation process.

I see two big problems with Witness Lee, first that he was disqualified as a Christian minister by New Testament standards. He was a lover of money and defrauded the saints repeatedly over a period of decades, on several continents (he moved to the USA in 1962). And his sons were set loose on the church and emotionally, psychologically and even sexually abused church members (all this was covered up and protesting witnesses were declared "rebellious" and ejected).

The second problem with Witness Lee is his theology. He said that man is hopelessly corrupt apart from God's grace. This led him to reject whole swaths of the Old Testament as "men's concepts". In Witness Lee's theology, "Behold I come to do your will, Oh God; in the scroll of the Book it is written concerning me" (Psa 40:9; Heb 10:7) is merely the vain thoughts of a sinner. No idea that it could pertain to the coming Son of David, the Messiah who alone is righteous, and whose righteous sacrificial death on the cross opened the way for the rest of humanity. No; everyone is a sinner. "All men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Um, sorry, but no - there is One Man who did not fall short of God's glory. In fact that is the central theme of the whole Bible. This is our faith - we have none other.

Then, when he came to New Testament exposition, Witness Lee wrote book after book on elevated and "divine" human virtues. The Christian needs to be this, and that. Look at an outline of one of their Holy Word for Morning Revival books (their weekly study books). Line after line saying "We must do this" and "We need to be that". Burden after heavy burden is laid on the Local Church believer. So it all looks quite high and spiritual, as if the Local Churchers are living according to the highest standard, but there is a big hole in the middle. No Jesus Christ, or precious little of His presence.

Of course I'm oversimplifying here, and a Local Church apologist would probably refute every line I wrote. But they have such a voluminous armamentarium of writings that they can find a quote to say whatever they need to say. But if you want to see my point, take a look at the first pages of one of their study Bibles (Recovery Version) on the book of Psalms. Essentially the whole book gets dismissed as fallen human concepts, except where NT usage forces them to recognize it (even then, as with Peter's epistle - 'all flesh is like grass' - it doesn't meet Witness Lee's high standards).

In the Local Church, Watchman Nee and Witness Lee are held as Oracles and Seers of the divine revelation, so that their interpretive works have ultimately supplanted the Bible. Where they ignored or dismissed the Bible, it's also ignored. Where they used it to support their doctrines and teachings, it's eagerly, even obsessively held. (There are stories of churches praying over one word from the Epistle to the Ephesians for weeks, because it was supposed to be an especially rich or divine word).

I left this group a few years ago. Today I try to receive everyone in Christ Jesus. I probably don't do a great job, as I am weak, superficial, and a know-it-all. But God said, Show mercy and you will be shown mercy. So the Christian assembly, like all of life, is a great place to show mercy and bear with one another. Then I have the real hope that God will bear with me, defects and all.

May God bless your journey in Christ Jesus, and all those with you. Remember that the most weak, pathetic, and despicable person you meet is much loved by God, who's patiently waiting for them to return home, and this is an opportunity for you to demonstrate God's grace in the Spirit of His Son. But be careful! We're in enemy territory here on earth, and if you see the enemy coming at you with 20,000 troops and you only have one-half that amount, just retire from the field and pray for God's deliverance... He will always hear your prayers. (see e.g. Luke 14:31)